Chilean Guerrilla Released Under Escort

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) _ A Chilean guerrilla jailed for five days was released Friday along with a countryman, and both were permitted to leave the United States under escort, officials said.

Sergio Buschmann, wanted in Chile in connection with the 1986 assassination attempt against Chilean President Augusto Pinochet, was permitted to continue traveling to Sweden, a journey interrupted Monday during a stopover at the Anchorage International Airport.

Immigration officials boarded his flight and arrested him and Eduardo Rojas, a Chilean companion reportedly serving as an interpreter.

Buschmann was held in Anchorage at the request of Interpol, the international police agency. The Chilean government asked that he be held pending a request for extradition.

Buschmann, deported by Australia, was granted exile in Sweden. Rojas was permitted to travel to Australia under escort, the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service said.

″INS detained them as excludable aliens out of concern for the safety of the other passengers and crew on the flight,″ the agency said in a news release. Officials later determined there were insufficient grounds for continued detention, the news release said.

Buschmann has been a spokesman for the Manuel Rodriguez Patriotic Front, Chile’s principal leftist guerrilla group. Two years ago, he escaped from a prison in Chile, where he faced arms-smuggling charges.

The Chilean government sought Buschmann’s extradition while he was in Australia. Instead of complying, the Australian government deported him on grounds he engaged in ″unacceptable activities.″ In Australia, he was raising funds for the guerrilla group and publicly called for the assassination of Pinochet.

Activities of the Manuel Rodreguez organization have been violent and ″prejudicial to all Chileans who favor a return to democracy,″ and the activities are condemned by the U.S. government, the INS said.